Sir Chris Hoy and Glasgow left deflated by Youth Olympic Games snub

Sir Chris Hoy was in Lausanne and said he was 'shocked and disappointed' that Glasgow's bid was not successful. Photograph: Jeremy Ayer/BOA via Getty Images

Sir Chris Hoy said he was "shocked and disappointed" after Lord Coe's bidding track record was not enough to help Glasgow land the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, with the event instead awarded to Buenos Aires.

Medellín, the Colombian city that was once considered one of the most dangerous in the world when it was in the grip of Pablo Escobar's drug cartel but has been transformed in recent years, also lost out, even though the country's president flew in to front its presentation.

Despite a presentation that included an impressive address from 15-year-old Elizabeth Pollard, who was in tears afterwards, and a closing speech from Coe, the general consensus was that Glasgow's bid was too close to the London Games and that the UK has had its share of major sporting events.

"We presented well, but it seems to be that it was too soon after London," said Sir Craig Reedie, the British International Olympic Committee executive board member who had hoped to bring the fledgling event to his home town. "We tackled that head on and dealt with it but it seems we couldn't get over it."

Hoy, winner of six Olympic gold medals and a bid ambassador, said: "It was a fantastic presentation. You can never tell. The reason everyone was nervous going in is that you don't know how the vote is going to go or what they're going to make of the presentation."

Glasgow was eliminated in the first round of voting with just 13 votes of the 85 cast. In the final round of voting Buenos Aires prevailed by 49 votes to 39, leaving the Medellín delegation devastated.

Medellín had delivered the most passionate presentation, with President Santos urging the IOC to take the event, which features 3,600 athletes between 14 and 18 and is supposed to help the Olympic movement capture the attention of a new generation, to Colombia.

"Colombia is now a new Colombia," he said. "A nation that dreams and smiles, a nation that likes to think big. I humbly ask you to give us this chance and we will not let you down."

But the IOC members plumped instead for the Argentinian capital, where they will gather in September to elect a new president and decide on the hosts of the 2020 Olympics.

The Kuwaiti IOC member, Sheikh Ahmad al-Sabah, is thought to have played a key role in lobbying delegates to vote for Buenos Aires.

The sheikh, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees, is increasingly seen as a key power broker in world sport having helped Salman al-Khalifa secure the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation and Marius Vizer to the SportAccord leadership.

Buenos Aires ranked third in the evaluation report prepared for the IOC members and was generally considered to have given the least compelling presentation. But Glasgow's proximity to London 2012 and the relative uncertainty of taking the event to Medellín appeared to work in its favour.

The sports minister, Hugh Robertson, said that the Glasgow bid, which had cost the Scottish government and Glasgow city council £1m each, was "a step too far" given the UK's recent success in winning major events.

"I thought we put together a very good bid," said Robertson. "A number of IOC members said we delivered the best presentation but that it was too close to London. I don't think it was wrong to be ambitious about it but the reality is that we've just had a fantastically successful Olympics and Paralympics and this was one step too far."

Coe, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, said: "I feel sorriest for the people of Glasgow – it was a very strong bid with good feedback – and for Craig Reedie. Craig had lived with this for two years and it was his baby and he's a Glaswegian. He will feel as disappointed as anybody.

"The guys in Glasgow put the proposition together and it was a really sensible approach. But timing is everything and there is no doubt there were a few members who are clearly thinking about the proximity of London."

The Youth Olympic Games are a pet project of the outgoing IOC president, Jacques Rogge, who will be succeeded by one of six candidates at the IOC session in Buenos Aires in September. The YOG first took place in Singapore in 2010 and will next be held in Nanjing, China, in 2014.

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